Frank Lucius Packard (February 2, 1877 - February 17, 1942) was a Canadian novelist. Life: Frank L. Packard was born in Montreal, Quebec and educated at McGill University and the University of Liege.As a young man he worked as a civil engineer for the Canadian Pacific Railway. His experiences working on the railroad led to his writing many railroad stories, then to a series of mystery novels, the most famous of which featured a character called Jimmie Dale. Several of his novels were made into films. Frank Packard died in 1942 in Lachine, Quebec and was buried in the Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal.